Learning Outcomes

Learning OutcomesIdentify what is distinctive about understanding human behaviour from a social science perspectiveExplain the relationship between perception, beliefs and behaviourAnalyze the structure of subjective experienceReframe engineering problems from a social science perspectiveYou MUST learn thisPERCEPTIONBELIEFSBehaviour

A bit of Applied psychology for You

The Serial Position Curve80

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200 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Position on ListProportion CorrectPrimacy EffectRecency Effectvon Restorff EffectPsychological EffectsPrimacy Effect (the tendency for the first items presented in a series to be remembered better or more easily) Recency Effect (the tendency for the most recently presented items or experiences to be remembered best) Von Restorff Effect (the tendency to remember distinct or novel items and experiences)

What might be useful for your learning?Dont try to learn too much too quick because you cantUtilize the beginning (first impression/Primacy effect) and end (last impression/Recency Effect) in Life Situations Introduce change (preferable novel/von Restorff Effect) it refreshes the brain

Two more mental teasers for YouHow many capital letters in the English alphabet are curved? (e.g., C)

A bat and ball cost $1.10 The bat costs one dollar more than the ballHow much does the ball cost?

Look carefully at this list for 20 secondscandy, sour, sugar, bitter, good, taste, tooth, nice, honey, soda, chocolate, heart, cake, eat, and pieWhat do you see, and how do you feel about it?

What else have you learned about the brain?The brain processes information slowly when we dont have the immediate answerThe brain can be easily trickedHow we feel (emotions) influences what we see and how we learnThe brain is hard wired to see things in learned ways

Brain Barriers to LearningRestricted Working Memory Despite having almost unlimited capacity for information in Long - Term Memory Working Memory can only deal with about 72 bits of information at once.

Limited Attention Span Unless a stimulus is particularly pleasurable, novel or threatening, attention will drift onto more interesting stimuli (either in the present situation or in our imagination).

Slow Conscious Processing Speed and inherently lazy The actual processing speed of the brain is slow compared to its capacity and organising ability. Also, it does not like to think too much, preferring quick I already know judgements

Sees what it has learned to see The brain typically process information based on established neuralnetworks, hence it will interpret new information based on whatsestablished in long-term memory and existing beliefs.

What is social science and how is it different from engineering science?

What is social science and how is it different from engineering science?The difference is between the nature of matter and the mind. Matter behavesaccording to physical laws (laws of science); humans do not simply react to eventsand experiences, they interpret them.

However, there is much similarity in how people behave in situations, as this reflects common brain architecture, human processing and needs. But within this commonalitythere is much variation.

Both commonality and variation is of interest to social scientistsActivity: Whats in a touch?Read the article on the experiment conducted in FranceWhat do you think the outcomes were?

How might the results differ in Singapore, and how would you explain this?Activity: Whats in a VoiceSpeech SamplesVolunteers were asked to rate the attributes of people using these different speech styles (with exactly the same content).High pitched speechSlow talking speechFast talking speechExpressive speech

Read the short summary of the research how might we explain the results?What are the core Social Sciences and how do they differ?Psychology:What is the structure of the mind, its components and how they work?What is personality?What is the nature of intelligence?How does learning occur?What causes deviance?

SociologyWhat is the basis of the organization of human societies and how do they differ and change?How does home background influence educational attainment?What causes deviance?How might these disciplines be connected, and what questionsdoes this raise?How the Mind Works(The Structure of Subjective Experience)

Sounds hard and freaky, lahMagic Eggs - StoryMum, Mum, you dont have to buy eggs anymore coz Im laying them

We forget that beliefs are no more than perceptions, usually with a limited sell by date, yet we act as though they were concrete realities (Adler, 1996, p.145)

Beliefs

The 3 Brain Paradox you cant talk to the Reptilian or Emotionally Charged brain

Far more neural filters project from our brains emotional centre into the logical/rational centres than the reverse

AmygdalaBecomes the Default System when we are threatenedMaking judgements and decisions guided by feelings and likings, with little deliberation and reasoning is common and referred to as the Affect Heuristic by nobel prizewinner, Kahneman, 2012, Impact of Personality TypeValidated research supports a model of human personality in which people differ, to varying degrees, in 5 major ways:introverted or extrovertedneurotic or stableincurious or open to experienceagreeable or antagonisticconscientious or undirectedAll are hereditable, with perhaps 40-50% of the variation in a typical population tied to differences in their genes.It is no fun dealing with the unfortunate wretch who is introverted, neurotic, narrow, disagreeable and undependable

Reality is a Personal Construction of the Mind

Senses

TheMap

The TerritoryDeletionsDistortionsGeneralizations

FILTERS Beliefs Emotions Memory PersonalityOur Maps result from sensory information from the environment, our pastexperiences and fancied constructions of reality mediated by 4 mainFilters. Hence the Map is NOT the Territory

Life is mostly a matter of perception and more often misperception

Dave LoganSummary key facts about the human brainBeliefs rather than evidence, is often the case when it comes to making decisions

We are influenced by mood and many situational factors when making decisions.

Unconscious factors, such as what we like (or dislike) and our emotions are as important as conscious activity (thinking) in influencing our behaviour

The emotional tail wags the rational dog(jonathan Haidt)25The Problem of slow liftsA company had many complaints about the slowness of their lifts. However, when they looked at the costing of increasing their lift speeds, it accounted to over $200,000. However, a psychologist solved the problem for less than $5,000. What solution did the psychologist adopt and how does this work?